Category Archives: kudos

The CIAMS faculty and staff wish all the best to Cornell students being graduated with Archaeology Majors and Master’s degrees in Spring 2015
The Undergraduate Majors are Morgan Michel-Schottman, Alexander Morgan, Eliizabeth Napper, and Zachary Peterson.
And the Master’s in Archaeology are William Breitweiser, Cynthia Kocik, Nicholas Lashway, and Katherine Seufer.

With the generous support of the Hirsch family, this Spring CIAMS awarded over $15,000 for archaeology-related travel to Cornell undergraduates and graduates, and over $15,000 to graduate students for archaeological research projects. These funds will help Cornell archaeology students work around the globe, in New York, Belize, Italy, Georgia, Israel, Tunisia, and Cyprus. Congratulations and good luck to all awardees.

Kudos to CIAMS students Bonnie Etter and Jennifer Carrington for their volunteer work at local middle schools. Both have been working through the organization GRASSHOPR to teach archaeology courses. Bonnie used education boxes borrowed from the Johnson Museum to engage not only students but multiple teachers, the principal, even the dean! The teachers were so excited that they have asked her to do versions of it for their own classes. Kudos!

Each year CIAMS faculty award an outstanding MA thesis, and this year there are two. congratulations to Sam and Angela on their excellent work. The titles of their 2014 MA theses follow, and abstracts are below.

Samantha Morgan Sanft, BEADS AND PENDANTS FROM INDIAN FORT ROAD: A SIXTEENTH CENTURY CAYUGA SITE IN TOMPKINS COUNTY, NEW YORK.

As reported in the Cornell Chronicle, “a sesquicentennial project funded by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Classics, led by history of art assistant professor Benjamin Anderson and classics professor Eric Rebillard, has uncovered compelling details about the men’s journey and discoveries; the information can be found on the College of Arts and Sciences sesquicentennial website; a symposium also is planned for the spring.”

Near Eastern Studies doctoral student Eilis Monahan received the most votes for her entry featuring a tagged cat sleeping on an artifact processing table in Cyprus. As first recipient of the CIAMS Archaeological Photography Prize, Eilis wins $100 for purchasing books of her choice.When contacted about her win, Monahan gave the following background:

“Pottery Cat, AKA Michael or Μιχάλης, was a stray in the village of Pera-Orinis, where the Politiko-Troullia project lives and where we have our lab space. I think it was the second day this summer [and] this adorable little orange cat followed me meowing the whole way. After that he just set up shop… he’d meet us every morning, and guard the school house at night. After about a week of students sneaking him food off their plates, we went out and bought him some cat food. We’d feed him in the plateia, but immediately after his meal, he’d be right back in the lab, sleeping on boxes, windowsills, artifacts or laps. He particularly liked sleeping on my lap every morning while I cataloged pottery. The project as a whole came to a consensus that there was no way he could stay in Cyprus […]. Nearly everyone on the project chipped in, and we got him everything he needed for a trip to the U.S. Which would have gone without a hitch, but […] Michael lost his seat, and his hard-sided carrier was too large to fit under a seat …, so he ended up wedged into the space between my seat and the seat in front of me, and I spent the whole trip with my knees up to my chin! But he’s now happily ensconced in my downstairs, so he doesn’t torture Ma’at my other cat, who is very sweet, but a total coward.”

Congratulations to Eilis, and to Pottery Cat! Thanks to all those who took the time to vote or submit images, some of which will be featured on the cycling website banner.

“A masterful overview of archaeological work on American gravestones and cemeteries that should be on the shelf of every student and scholar of mortuary studies.”–Lynn Rainville, author of Hidden History: African-American Cemeteries in Virginia

“A landmark publication that synthesizes for the first time the massive amount of research on historic mortuary archaeology, especially monuments, across America. An essential text for many archaeologists, art historians, and cultural anthropolgists.”–Harold Mytum, coeditor of Prisoners of War: Archaeology, Memory, and Heritage of 19th- and 20th-Century Mass Internment.

Gravestones, cemeteries, and memorial markers offer fixed points in time to examine Americans’ changing attitudes toward death and dying. In tracing the evolution of commemorative practices from the seventeenth century to the present, Sherene Baugher and Richard Veit offer insights into our transformation from a preindustrial and agricultural to an industrial, capitalist country.

Paying particular attention to populations often overlooked in the historical record–African Americans, Native Americans, and immigrant groups–the authors also address the legal, logistical, and ethical issues that confront field researchers who conduct cemetery excavations. Baugher and Veit reveal how gender, race, ethnicity, and class have shaped the cultural landscapes of burial grounds and summarize knowledge gleaned from the archaeological study of human remains and the material goods interred with the deceased.

From the practices of historic period Native American groups to elite mausoleums, and from almshouse mass graves to the rise in popularity of green burials today, The Archaeology of Cemeteries and Gravemarkers provides an overview of the many facets of this fascinating topic.

CIAMS Master’s student Cynthia Kocik was graduated in August 2014, having completed her thesis, “The Edges of Wood: Dendrochronological Analysis of Three Seneca Iroquois Structures at Letchworth State Park, 1796-1831.” Since graduating Cindy has been working at the Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory and plans to do so into early 2015. Eventually she hopes to work in CRM or in an archaeology-related post with a state parks service or historical society in the Midwest. Congratulations, Cindy!